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Over the past few months Creative Reactions has brought scientists and artists together to explore the subject of musical improvisation and create work based around their research and conversations. Music fills our days. It has the power to evoke emotions and transcends language and culture. We take solace in music's ability to empathise with our highs and lows. But with our ears so attuned to music, one false note can make the difference between a frisson-inducing performance and audiences being left cold. We'll explore improvisation which offers a solution and the possibility of originality…
The link between brains of musicians and listeners
Professor Henrik Jeldtoft Jensen
(Professor of Mathematical Physics, Imperial College London)
Henrik is the leader of the Centre for Complexity Science at Imperial College London. He will discuss research results from an experiment involving classically trained musicians in which he studied how performance modes influence the synchronicity and flow of information between the brains of musicians and listeners.
Musical improvisation
David Dolan
(Professor - Pianist - Researcher)
Kathryn Smith
(Singer)
Rosie Bowker
(Flautist)
What happens when music is performed without any preparation? Pianist David Dolan, accompanied by singer Kathryn Smith, and flautist Rosie Bowker, will demonstrate what happens when musicians extemporise simultaneously - musical telepathy must take place in order for the music to stay coherent. Risk-taking, empathy, and enhanced active listening will be explored.
Poetry
Seki Lynch
(Poet & Curator)
Seki Lynch is a writer of poetry and prose and he will be performing poetry tailored to the research of both scientists and musicians. His work is often related to the music of love and romance. Concerned with connection, his work touches on that which is most human in us all, the search for one another. As well as performing at The Society Club, the Curious Arts Festival and last year's Creative Reactions he has written for the New Welsh Review and the International Times.
Musical Method to Madness
Joel Bourke
(Poet - Multi-Instrumentalist)
The ability to adapt to the many challenges of modern life is of utmost importance to the maintenance of mental health. The benefits of improvisation naturally lead us to feel able in circumstances that would otherwise be ever so daunting. Joel will explain his own experiences and how ability has enabled him to overcome situations that prior to knowledge of adaptation seemed impossible. Joel aims to develop a healthy relationship between society and sanity through many artistic mediums.
Musical Mayhem
Tom Maryniak
(Artist)
With a background in woodblock relief printing, largely influenced by the German Expressionists, Tom has evolved his practice from straightforward printmaking to discover that this particular method of pattern design combined with visual narrative makes for a more interesting discourse within his work - likening the process of constructing an illustrated crossword puzzle. With broad themes ranging from the political, historical to the cultural, Tom would argue that all of the designs are fundamentally playful but perhaps with a mildly facetious undertone.
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